It was good to get back to this project. I’ve completed a quick composition sketch from the drawings. Charles Tunnicliffe did a lovely large watercolour of a snowy owl – it’s in ‘Tunnicliffe’s Bird Life.’ His model was a dead bird shot on Anglesea and he’s used the location where it was shot as a background. The background here is loosely taken from a charcoal drawing made in the Lake District – I’m not sure what the skyline is it might be Crinkle Crags or possibly Coniston Old Man.
I’ve used watercolour and kept the background deliberately loose – the bird will eventually get more detailed treatment. The bird in the Rare Breeds collection was large standing approx 24in. It really needs a full watercolour sheet like Tunnicliffe used. I’m unhappy working on such a large scale in watercolour so i think I’ll go for Heavy Body Acrylic on board.
I forgot to add that although its predominantly pure watercolour there are touches of White Acrylic Ink left foreground and on the distant snow patches. In fact there are also some touches on the bird - got carreiad away rather!